IPL 2021: 135 was not enough on this pitch, we should have got 170 – KL Rahul

Punjab Kings captain KL Rahul feels the score of 135 runs was not enough at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi against defending champions Mumbai Indians on Tuesday.

MI skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first but PBKS could not get going in their batting innings.

Aiden Markram was the pick of the batters as he scored 42 runs off 29 balls but the rest of the players could not contribute much to the score. Deepak Hooda got off to a start but could not add the finishing touches for the team as he scored 28 runs from 26 balls.

In fact, it was a 160 type of a pitch but 135 was well below par. However, Punjab Kings bowlers made it tough for Mumbai Indians batters to chase down the score and the KL Rahul-led team could have got over the line had they scored around 150 runs.

KL Rahul after the match, “It was a great fight, but 135 was not enough on this pitch. We should have got about 170. The boys showed a lot of fight with the ball, we have done that two games in a row. The next three games will be interesting for us as the table looks interesting. It is what it is, we haven’t been able to handle the pressure. We’ll learn more if we play more together as a team. We need to be positive. We have three games, so we need to take one game at a time. We need to go out there and enjoy ourselves. All our games in the UAE have gone down to the wire, hopefully we can build on that”.

Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard were able to add the finishing touches for the reigning champions. Pandya scored 40 from 30 balls and played a mature innings whereas Pollard hammered 7-ball 15.

On the other hand, Punjab Kings could not finish on a high as Harpreet Brar struggled to get going. The left-handed Punjab batter could only score 14 runs from 19 balls.

Punjab Kings would be disappointed as they had Mumbai Indians on the rope in the run-chase but could not finish the game. Punjab will now aim to bounce back strong in the coming matches. The KL Rahul-led team will next face KKR on 1st October at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.